Today's News

March is just around the corner and this March, local Pharmacist Dr. Katherine Fry will return to Haiti for her seventh mission trip to heal the sick.

Her most recent trip was in September 2018 with friend Elizabeth Hargreaves.

Their work helped more than 2,500 patients who traveled from distant villages for food, medicine and a chance to improve health for themselves and their children. This time, prior to their arrival, a special education team has traveled in advance to teach villagers hand washing and tooth brushing and provide resources for fresh water.

Many items we take for granted each day, can be donated for Fry to take when she travels or donated anytime through a secure on-line site. The items, simple in nature, are necessary life saving ones, but must be small for her two-bag limit. Unfortunately, not all bags arrive on the other end of the trip, so even the smallest donation of cash or coins is helpful and jars are available at Smith’s Marketplace Pharmacy and the White Rock Smith’s.

The Smith’s Marketplace location would love to see the donations of the following items:

Jan. 25
John Hart was found guilty by the Los Alamos Municipal Court of speeding six to 10 miles an hour over the speed limit. Defendant was fined $50 and must also pay $65 in court costs.

Joshua J. Gonzales was found guilty through Citepay of speeding 6-10 miles an hour over the speed limit. Defendant was fined $50 and must also pay $65 in court costs.

Alexandra Hinkley was found guilty by the Los Alamos Municipal Court of speeding six to 10 miles an hour over the speed limit. Defendant was fined $50 and must also pay $65 in court costs.

Jan. 28
Linda Padilla was found guilty by the Los Alamos Municipal Court of speeding six to 10 miles an hour over the speed limit. Defendant was fined $50 and must also pay $65 in court costs.

Miguel Moreno pled no contest in Los Alamos Municipal Court for failing to appear in court. Defendant was fined $25 and must also pay $165 in court costs. Defendant was sentenced to community service in lieu of fines.

Peter Gram pled no contest in Los Alamos Municipal Court to building permit violations. Sentenced deferred until April 28.

Gilbert Romero was found guilty in Los Alamos Municipal Court for failing to pay fines/court costs. Defendant was fined $50 and must also pay $65 in court costs.

Police Beat items are compiled from public information contained in Los Alamos Police Department records. Charges or citations listed in Police Beat do not imply innocence or guilt. The Los Alamos Police Department uses the term “arrest” to define anyone who has been physically arrested, served a court summons, or issued a citation.

Two state senators who represent rural districts hope to topple a long-standing system that uses the lion’s share of a federal grant program to help fund urban schools.

Operational money from the grants initially goes to 25 school districts and five charter schools. But then the state shortchanges these needy districts, said Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, who called what happens “a shell game.”

That’s because the districts and schools selected to receive money from the Impact Aid program only get a quarter of the overall annual grant, which topped $78 million last year.

The state redirects the rest of the money to other school districts through New Mexico’s per-student funding formula. Muñoz and Sen. Clemente Sanchez, D-Grants, want to change that.

They say redistributing the grant money to other school districts isn’t fair to hard-pressed schools and undermines the intent of the program.

Maximum temperatures in the region were colder than normal as multiple cold fronts passed through the state, but low temperatures were near average in January.

Maximum temperatures have been below average in Los Alamos County since October 2018.
Wind chills were below zero degrees, particularly on Jan. 18 and 21, as wind gusts exceeded 40 mph (41 mph and 49 mph, respectively).

The multiple cold fronts kept most of New Mexico at near average temperatures.

The above average precipitation that occurred at the end of 2018 continued into 2019. Los Alamos measured 142 percent of average precipitation and 166 percent of normal snowfall.

Over the past three months, Los Alamos has measured above-average snowfall. The 49.8 inches of snow this winter is the most snowfall through January since the winters of 2000 and 2001.

The snowpack for northern New Mexico Mountains is near average, with the Jemez Mountains at 95 percent of average, while the mountains in southern New Mexico are around 50 percent.

The northwest half of New Mexico had above average precipitation, while the southeast half had below average precipitation.

Dr. Carmen Solano’s office is welcoming, its main centerpiece has a low table with four chairs facing each other. Soft, relaxing music plays in the background.

The atmosphere is clearly designed to put patients at ease.

Solano’s practice is unique in other ways. Solano practices a philosophy of medicine known as “functional medicine,” a type of medicine that factors in a patient’s entire medical history before giving a diagnosis.

The idea is that when all familial and other histories are accounted for, the more accurate and successful diagnosis of a patient will be.

“The foundation of the process is a very comprehensive health history,” Solano said. “We ask questions all the way from birth to now in terms of their medical history, their lifestyle… their stressors, their environmental exposures, family history, all of that. That information is gathered before a patient’s first visit.”

Solano graduated from the University of Texas Medical School and has practiced family medicine for 18 years as a board-certified doctor. She opened her practice in Los Alamos in 2015. Recently, she was approved to accept Blue Cross Blue Shield medical insurance, the largest medical insurer in Los Alamos County.

Fleur de Lys, Los Alamos’ only French Bistro and grocery store got a bit of a facelift recently when the owners decided to extend their counter space for their customers.

“The reason why we wanted to put in a new counter is because we needed to have more space to display some of the items we sell while people wait in line,” co owner Marcel Remillieux said. “…We started with a small counter, because we never anticipated we’d have so many people here.”

To accommodate even further the customers’ line of sight, the bistro’s menus have migrated from the east wall where the kitchen is to the north wall, right behind the new counters.

“Now, they can wait in line and have the menu right behind us, so they can talk to us and look at the menu at the same time. Everything is aligned and in place,” Remillieux said.

The display case for the pastries is bigger, and there’s more room for staff to accommodate customer needs also.

“On the staff side, it gives us all the room we need to package the goods we sell. It’s more functional,” Remillieux said.

Proponents of legalizing marijuana have long pointed to a prospective windfall they say state and local governments could enjoy by taxing products that now circulate on the black market.

But the sponsors of a bill to legalize marijuana in New Mexico have an unlikely goal.

They don't want to tax it too much. And there's a reason why.

"Our goal was to stay under 20 percent," said Rep. Javier Martinez, a Democrat from Albuquerque who is co-sponsoring House Bill 356, known as the Cannabis Regulation Act.

The law would set a relatively moderate excise tax of 9 percent on marijuana. Local governments could add up to 3 percent. State as well as local gross receipts taxes would apply, too.

While other states have charged more, the idea is to ensure that marijuana sold on the legal market can compete with the black market.

Colorado has a 15 percent excise tax as well as a 15 percent sales tax, according to data compiled by the Tax Foundation. Nevada has a 15 percent excise tax, too, as well as a 10 percent sales tax. Oregon's sales tax on marijuana is 17 percent. Washington charges 37 percent.

One by one, Tesla has convinced 23 states and Washington, D.C., to allow the maverick electric carmaker the ability to sell directly to the public as a licensed dealer.

So far, New Mexico is not one of them.

About 600 New Mexicans own Teslas. But there are no Tesla showrooms or service centers here, and owners either have to leave the state to buy or service their vehicles -- or have the company deliver them to the door by truck.

State Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, an Albuquerque Democrat, proposes amending a state law that prohibits vehicle manufacturers from selling directly to consumers rather than through an independent franchise dealership.

His Senate Bill 243 would allow "motor vehicle manufacturers to be licensed as motor vehicle dealers under certain conditions."

It's informally called "the Tesla bill," though state law prohibits legislation for one business. The spirit of the bill is to give an exception to electric or alternative fuel car companies, but the bill as originally submitted simply mentions "motor vehicle manufacturers."

"We adjusted the bill," Ortiz y Pino said. "It provides an exception for all electric vehicles manufactured in the U.S."